Bob Parker Accused of Being Misinformed Over Tibet Fiasco

Sir Bob Parker Accused of Being “Naïve, Foolish
And Misinformed” Over Tibet Fiasco

Former
Christchurch mayor was ‘signed up’ to controversial
statement without his knowledge and observed “happiness”
in Tibet as Tibetan protesters elsewhere shot by security
forces

Sir Bob Parker has joined political figures
from the UK, Japan and Ireland who were reported by Chinese
state media to have supported a highly controversial
position statement at the end of an international meeting
they attended in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, this week (1). As
the meeting was taking place, China’s security forces
opened fire with live ammunition on peaceful protesters
elsewhere in Tibet, seriously injuring at least ten (2). Sir
Bob has subsequently repudiated the document, which he did
not agree to, telling the BBC that he was "not happy to be
included in a document that states some very powerful
political perspectives” (3).

Regarding the conference,
Sir Bob also told the BBC:"I came here as a New
Zealander with a unique opportunity to get into Tibet and
see some of these unique communities with my own eyes. There
seems to be a good degree of openness and happiness in the
communities that I've been to."But I'm not a Tibet
expert, I'm not a global politician, I'm just a citizen who
had a chance to come to a very special part of the world to
see some of these things with my own eyes." (3)Eleanor
Byrne-Rosengren, director of Free Tibet, said:“We
welcome Sir Bob Parker’s statement repudiating the
so-called consensus but as he was enjoying China’s
hospitality, peaceful Tibetan protesters were being shot by
China’s security forces. The statement issued at the end
of this event shows that the whole thing was an exercise in
propaganda which Western participants blindly or willingly
allowed themselves to become part of. Sir Bob was naïve and
foolish in taking at face value an invitation from the State
Council Information Office of China to attend a meeting
about the country it occupies and brutally oppresses: such
invitations belong in the bin, not on the
mantelpiece.”

Following the forum, participants were
taken on a visit to Linzhi prefecture (Nyingtri, in
Tibetan), a picturesque part of southern Tibet where China
has invested in building “model villages” to attract
tourists (4). It appears that Sir Bob’s comments to the
BBC were made during that visit.

Ms Byrne-Rosengren
continues:

“Events like this constitute a key part of
China’s international charm offensive on occupied-Tibet.
Unfortunately, Sir Bob appears to have been taken in by the
slick presentation and carefully stage-managed tour around
China’s Tibetan Disneyland. A politician of Sir Bob’s
experience has little excuse for getting himself into this
situation and apparently failing to acquaint himself with
the full facts.”

The Fourth Forum on Development
of Tibet, organised by the State Council Information Office
of China and the Tibetan regional government, was attended
by over 100 participants from 30 countries and issued at its
conclusion the “Lhasa consensus” (5), which included the
following points:

• Participants unanimously
agree that what they have actually seen in Tibet differs
radically from what the 14th Dalai and the Dalai clique have
said. The Dalai clique's statements on Tibet are distorted
and incorrect. Many Western media reports are biased and
have led to much misunderstanding (emphasis added)

•
Participants notice that Tibet enjoys sound economic
growth, social harmony, deep-rooted Tibetan culture and
beautiful natural scenery, and the people enjoy a happy
life.

• Participants notice that ordinary
people in Tibet are satisfied with their well-off lives,
good education, sound medical care, housing and various
social securities. All ethnic groups in Tibet have full
confidence and motivation for building a better
future.

In contrast to the picture painted of economic
development in Tibet at the forum, the UN Economic, Cultural
and Social Rights committee recently issued a report
detailing child malnutrition in Tibet and unemployment among
Tibetans as a result of Chinese immigration (6). Tibetans
are economically marginalised in Tibet and much of China’s
infrastructure investment in the region is designed to
facilitate the extraction and export of Tibet’s natural
resources, including copper, gold and
lithium.

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